Icon Tag: Magic

Wednesday Wisdom – The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

Wednesday Wisdom – The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak Published by Viking Adult on August 5th, 2021 Genres: Fiction Pages: 368 Format: Paperback Source: Book Club Buy on Amazon Goodreads A rich, magical new book on belonging and identity, love and trauma, nature and renewal, from the Booker shortlisted author of 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World. Two teenagers, a Greek Cypriot and a Turkish Cypriot, meet at a taverna on the island they both call home. In the taverna, hidden beneath garlands of garlic, chili peppers and creeping honeysuckle, Kostas and Defne grow in their forbidden love for each other. A fig tree stretches through a cavity in the roof, and this tree bears witness to their hushed, happy meetings and eventually, to their silent, surreptitious departures. The tree is there when war breaks out, when the capital is reduced to ashes and rubble, and when the teenagers vanish. Decades later, Kostas returns. He is a botanist looking for native species, but really, he’s searching for lost love. Years later, a Ficus carica grows in the back garden of a house in London where Ada Kazantzakis lives. This tree is her only connection to an island she has […]

Posted November 23, 2022
4 Comments
Ma Tutt’s Donut Hut by Lyndon Perry

Ma Tutt’s Donut Hut by Lyndon Perry

Ma Tutt’s Donut Hut by Lyn Perry Series: Mack the Magical Cat Mystery #1 on July 1st, 2014 Genres: Cozy Mystery Pages: 105 Format: eBook Source: Author’s Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads A Curious Cozy with a Magical Cat! Dolly Tutt has just opened her own bakery in the small mountain community of Sugar Pine Station. But the Creamy Pie franchise across the street is giving her fits. Her business is dying. She needs a miracle or she’ll be forced to close. Fortunately, Mack, a mysterious tabby that came with the doughnut shop, lends a paw by pointing Dolly to a magical ingredient that definitely puts the spice back in her life and rejuvenates the Donut Hut. Unfortunately, it also unleashes as series of catastrophes that may end up destroying her business once and for all. This short novel of about 100 pages is a complete adventure but contains four tales within the larger gentle mystery. Think of it in terms of a four episode mini-series with each story complete unto itself but all add up to a satisfying conclusion. I think it’s time to start describing books as famous idioms. Ma Tutt’s Donut Hut can easily be described as Sugar and Spice […]

Posted September 5, 2022
2 Comments
Shifting and Shenanigans by Elizabeth Pantley

Shifting and Shenanigans by Elizabeth Pantley

Shifting and Shenanigans by Elizabeth Pantley Series: Magical Mystery Book Club #1 Published by Better Beginnings Inc on July 15th 2022 Genres: Cozy Mystery Pages: 210 Format: ARC Source: Author’s Copy Buy on Amazon Goodreads Paige and her adventurous Aunt Glo inherit a country inn from eccentric GeeGee. They pack up and hit the road, arriving at the charming place they both loved since childhood. Finally! They can get into the secret room in the basement that GeeGee kept locked! They discover it’s a wonderful library filled to the brim with mystery books. But more than the room was a secret – it’s a magical place that houses enchanted books. Paige and Glo find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a murder mystery, along with a motley group of book club friends. The club will need to work together to solve the case in order to get out of the book and back to their home. Greetings you guys! Oh we are so thrilled to share the first instalment of our favorite feline author in the whole wide world’s brand new series. Jeezzz, that sentence might be a bit long and without any punctuation marks. As long as you can […]

Posted July 15, 2022
11 Comments
The Girl with the Whispering Shadow by D.E. Night

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow by D.E. Night

The Girl with the Whispering Shadow by D.E. Night Series: The Crowns of Croswald #2 Published by Stories Untold Press on January 3rd, 2019 Genres: Fantasy Pages: 384 Format: ARC Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads Even a secret town cannot protect Ivy from a mysterious darkness… Only hours after Ivy Lovely discovers that she is the fulfillment of the Moonsday promise, she is whisked away from her beloved school to Belzebuthe, a secret town for only those with magical blood. Ivy sets out on a mission to uncover the second facet of the Kindred Stone while eluding the Dark Queen’s wrath. But even when she’s supposed to be safe, something is shadowing Ivy. She will need all her natural-born magic and more as she battles to find the rest of the Kindred Stone and return to the Halls of Ivy. Before it’s too late… Whoosh! And we’re back from our latest thrilling visit to the Magical School of Ivy Hall. Our detour trip on the cabby through The Town, Belzebuthe, was quite the experience as well. Once again, a reminder to travel as light as possible. Can you still remember where we ended off in the first instalment, The […]

Posted June 29, 2022
4 Comments
The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night

The Crowns of Croswald by D.E. Night Series: The Crowns of Croswald #1 Published by Stories Untold Press on July 21st, 2017 Genres: Fantasy Pages: 249 Format: ARC Source: Netgalley Buy on Amazon Goodreads This is a page-turning fantasy in the tradition of fairy tales, whimsical worlds, and coming-of-age stories. The Crowns of Croswald invites young readers to explore themes of stepping into their own magic, discovering their true selves, and battling evil head-on. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as “an action-packed treat […] with a relatable heroine facing challenges in a vivid world of magic and mystery,” and called a new classic by readers, The Crowns of Croswald series is a magical romp through a fully formed universe with dragons, magical quills, potions, and mythical creatures. Ivy Lovely is 16 and she has no idea who she is—or what her powers could be. When she crosses a magical boundary, she discovers a whole new world of enchantment and mystery. Making friends that will last a lifetime—and save her life—she steps into her own abilities and discovers more about her hidden past, magical blood, and the power of Croswald’s mystical stones. But all is not well: a dark history and an […]

Posted December 11, 2021
7 Comments
The Ice Queen – Alice Hoffman

The Ice Queen – Alice Hoffman

The Ice Queen by Alice Hoffman Published by Back Bay Books on January 3rd, 2006 Genres: Fiction Pages: 211 Format: eBook Source: My Bookshelf Goodreads From the bestselling author of Practical Magic, a miraculous, enthralling tale of a woman who is struck by lightning, and finds her frozen heart is suddenly burning. Be careful what you wish for. A small town librarian lives a quiet life without much excitement. One day, she mutters an idle wish and, while standing in her house, is struck by lightning. But instead of ending her life, this cataclysmic event sparks it into a new beginning. She goes in search of Lazarus Jones, a fellow survivor who was struck dead, then simply got up and walked away. Perhaps this stranger who has seen death face to face can teach her to live without fear. When she finds him, he is her opposite, a burning man whose breath can boil water and whose touch scorches. As an obsessive love affair begins between them, both are forced to hide their most dangerous secrets—what turned one to ice and the other to fire. A magical story of passion, loss, and renewal, The Ice Queen is Alice Hoffman at […]

Posted June 8, 2016
0 Comments